Edward and Jaycel

Every case is different and is processed individually and comparing yourself to others who applied around the same time is an exercise in futility....

The average processing time to completion for 80% of cases in Newark is 7.5 months.... you are barely halfway through that timeline

This happens unfortunately.... Our friends here in Denver interviewed at the same field office as us, 6 days later on July 29th, and while we got the approval the day after our interview, they are still waiting a decision. Some officers are experienced enough to be allowed to approve most cases on their own (which I believe our officer was very experienced and may have even been a supervisor herself) and some have to get a supervisor to review it before approval is issued. So then you have to factor in how many cases are backlogged waiting that supervisor's review, it's the end of the most common time of year that people take vacations so was that supervisor on vacation? Lots of factors come into play there... I'm sorry it's taking so long for you guys. Keep the faith, it just has to work its way through the process.

Thank you for this great, detailed account of your experience!! and congrats again

Yeah.... Manila is a special beast when it comes to K-1 scheduling. We were so thankful that we got lucky finding that cancellation. It ended up working out perfectly that the appointment was 6 days after the medical exam we had already scheduled. Visa interview appointment scheduling is one of the more challenging aspects of this process.

We had the same issue in Manila.... We were checking every hour for over a week before we got lucky and grabbed an appointment that I believe was someone else's cancellation. Just be persistent

The website to register is https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/en/ On the home page, you will see "I need..." under that click on the button that says "An immigrant Visa". On the next page you will click on the green button at the top that says "Visa Login" and on the next page click on "Sign up now" This website is where you will register and payment instructions will be there - this website is also where you will schedule the biometrics and interview appointments

You need to go to this site and follow the instructions (Except where it says DS-260, for you guys it's the DS-160) The first paragraph gives you the website the embassy uses to register you for the biometrics and interview appointments. Payment instructions will be there. The website to register is https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/en/ On the home page, you will see "I need..." under that click on the button that says "An immigrant Visa". On the next page you will click on the green button at the top that says "Visa Login" and on the next page click on "Sign up now" This is the embassy site with all the interview instructions https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html

Great news and thank you for the details about your interview!

I would like to reiterate what @appleblossom said above about rescheduling... Please do not reschedule your appointment unless there is absolutely no other option. Move heaven and earth to get to that appointment.

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!! Congratulations!!! 🎉🎉

Woo Hoo!!! Congratulations!!! 🎉🎉

How did your family member choose to have the passport delivered? Or did they want to pick it up? At this point, I think they need to contact the embassy or the website used to book appointments

When was the date of the last update of "Issued"?

You will pay OOP for this regardless of insurance so I would get this scheduled as quickly as possible so that you can file it with the original submission package. You don't want to be dealing with an RFE later on in the process for this and delaying your case because of it. This link that @MalloryCat provided will find you all the options for a Civil Surgeon in your area https://www.uscis.gov/tools/find-a-civil-surgeon Be advised that we had to call over a dozen civil surgeon offices before we found one that would do just the vaccine assessment part of the I-693. That's why I advise you make this a priority.

Don't kill yourself on it today.... Even if they approve it today, you won't get an email and it won't show in your portal until tomorrow. Our officer said she was approving us that day but that there's a 24 hour delay in what they do in their system and when it shows up in our portal. Sure enough, 25 hours after we left the office, we got the email and the status had changed to "Approved". Also keep in mind that if they are an officer that needs supervisory review of their cases, it can take a bit longer. So try not to drive yourself too crazy

I think it's officer specific.... We got one here in the Denver FO at the end of our interview but our friends who went to the same office 6 days later, had a different officer and did not get one

Great Advice! Jaycel and I already have a box that we put stuff into to scan and I have already created a "ROC" folder on my computer. LOL

HAHAHAHAHA that's good though, shows he's not afraid of the process

Glad it's done!! That sounds like it went really well if that's all she asked

I wouldn't put much stock in sites that say they can tell you your place in line.... no one knows that, not even USCIS. I actually paid a subscription for one of those sites during the I-129F process and it told me I was at the "Front of the Line" after 4-5 months and we were at the "Front of the Line" for 3 months after that 🤪 Those sites are just trying to get your money with a lot of fancy charts, etc. Don't waste your money

Yes! You can upload additional evidence of marital bona fides on the portal for your I-130 using the "Unsolicited Evidence" button under the Documents tab and I highly recommend that you do so. Everything from the I-130 petition will be sent to the embassy as part of the package that the Consular Officer will have access to during the interview for the visa. Any additional evidence you provide can help mitigate the chances of an RFE from USCIS and help mitigate the chances of a 221g from the embassy requesting more marital evidence before a decision can be made. Upload what you have for sure!

Another example of why you should be cautious about engagement celebrations prior to your K-1 interview at the embassy

One of the most helpful pieces of advice we got was to read aloud the Yes/No questions from Part 9 on the I-485 and answer them as it's very different hearing them asked to you verbally and having to answer than it is to just read them and answer them in your head. This helped Jaycel immensely during the interview when the officer asked about 20 of the questions to her. By that point, she was familiar with them from our practice sessions and was very comfortable answering them.

If they did not give her a copy of the X-Rays, as long as she does not have TB then it should not be a problem. They only look for those upon entry to the US if there is a TB diagnosis.